Clothes hanger structure



May 25, 1965 E. J. GREGORY 3,185,313

CLOTHES HANGER STRUCTURE Filed June 2l, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet l May 25, 1965 E. J. GREGORY CLOTHES HANGER STRUCTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 2l, 1963 ln l l I l United States Patent 3,135,313 CLTEES HANGER STRUCTURE Emanuel J. Gregory, 2166 Alter Road, Detroit, Mich. Filed June 21, 1963, Ser. No. 289,646 3 Claims. (Cl. 211-104) This invention relates generally to clothing hangers and particularly to clothing hangers for mounting on a laundry tub.

As is well known, many items of clothing today are made of synthetic materials which have several advantages over natural fibrous materials. Among the `several advantages is that clothing of synthetic materials may be successfully and easily cleaned by washing them in water without danger of shrinkage or injury to the clothing. After washing, it is only necessary to hang such clothing to allow for drying by what has become known as the drip dry method, the characteristics of the material when dried by this method giving the appearance of having been ironed. However, the drip drying of clothes creates a water disposal problem resulting in puddles of water which is, of course, objectionable, particularly when several garments are being drip dried in a basement or laundry room.

Accordingly, it is the principal object of my invention to provide a hanger structure adapted to be mounted on a laundry tub to suspend drip drying clothes over the tub.

Another object of the invention is to provide a clothes hanger structure for the above mentioned purpose which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

Another object of the invention is to provide a clothing hanger structure which may be readily mounted on and/ or removed from a laundry tub.

Another object of the invention is to provide for the mounting of a clothes hanger structure on a laundry tub be readily manipulated clamping means that will rigidly secure the structure to the tub.

A further object resides in a hanger structure which is light in weight and one which will lit onto tubs of different sizes within limits.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following ldetail description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FlG. l is a perspective view of my hanger structure shown mounted ron a laundry tub;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of the hanger structure and fragment of the laundry tub;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view, partly in elevation and partly in section, taken along the line 3 3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a horizontal fragmentary sectional view, taken along `the line 4 4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view, taken in the direction of the arrows 5 5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional View, taken along the line 6 6 -of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a horizontal sectional view, taken along the line 7 7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational View, taken in the direction of the arrows 8 8 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 9 is a vertical sectional view, taken along the line 9 9 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary elevational view of a detail of a modification of the hanger structure;

FIG. 11 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section, taken along the line Il ll of FIG. l0;

FIG. l2 is another view partly in elevation and partly in section, taken along the line 12-12 of FIG. 10;

FIG, 13 is a fragmentary elevational view similar to FIG. 5, but showing details of the modification;

FIG. 14 is a vertical sectional view, taken along the line 14-14 of FIG. 13;

ICC

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary elevational view similar to FIG. 8, but showing details of the modification; and

FIG. 16 is a vertical sectional view, taken along the line 16-16 of FIG. 15.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference and first to FIGS. 1 to 9, the numeral 20 designates, in general, a laundry tub of conventional type having opposite sides 22 and 24 and opposite ends 26 and 28. In accordance with my invention, I utilize the conventional laundry tub, such as the tub 20, to catch Water dripping from clothing of the drip dry character, and to this end I provide a clothes hanger structure 36 which is adapted to be mounted on the tub, as illustrated in FIG. 1.

The clothes hanger structure 30 comprises a pair of legs 36 and 38 and a second pair of similar legs 36 and 3S, the pairs of legs being relatively laterally positioned and spaced apart. Each of the pairs of legs form like inverted V structures and at their apices are connected together and support a horizontal cross .bar 40 on which one or more conventional clothes hangers 42 may support clothes over the tub 20. In order that the hanger structure may be light in weight so as to be easily handled when mounting the structure on the tub 20 and/or removing it therefrom, the legs 36 and 38 and the cross bar 40 are made of aluminum or other relatively light weight material.

To lower ends of the legs 36 and 38 of each pair of the legs there is pivoted or hinged a pair of mounting members or feet 44 and 46 respectively. The feet 44 are similar and each comprises an angle member having a horizontal portion 4S to seat on the upper end edge of the tub and a vertical portion 50 which extends downwardly to overlie an upper portion of the tub end wall 26. Each of the feet 44 and 46 has an unstanding boss or hinge member 52 to which the lower ends of the legs 36 and 38 are respectively pivoted or hinged. In the present construction, the lower ends of the tubular legs 36 and 38 have fiat end portions S4 for connection to the hinge members 52 by bolts 56. The bolts 56 extend through the legs and screwthread into the hinge members 52 as shown, for example, in FIG.V 7. Under the head of each of the bolts a washer 58 is preferably provided and held against the reduced or flat portion of the leg to frictionally hold said portion to the hinge member 52. By threading the bolt 56 into the threaded bore in the hinge member 52, the frictional force between the opposed faces of the flat portion 54 and hinge member 52, may be adjusted and held in adjusted position by a lock nut 69. Aiiixed to the inner faces .of the vertical portions S0, such as by bonding, are displaceable gripping members 62 to abut the outer sides ofthe tub Ztl, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 9. The gripping members 62 may be rubber or rubberized material, preferably ribbed, as shown, and may be bonded to a backing strip 63 which in turn may be secured to portions Si)v by rivets 64, or other suitable attaching means.

A connecting member 66 is provided for each of the pairs of legs 36 and 38 and these connecting members may be flexible members such as the chains shown, or may be of any other suitable type. One end of the chain 66 is anchored to the mounting foot 44 by a bolt 68 and nut 76, FIG. 6, the bolt 68 extending through the hinge member 52 just below the hinge bolt S4. The other end of the chain 66 is connected to the eye or hooked end 72 of a bolt 74 which is axially adjustable in a bushing 76 in the hinge member 52 of the mounting member or foot 46, FIG. 9. The bolt 74 projects through the foot 46 and screwthreaded onto the outer end of the bolt there is a wing nut 78. It will be seen that by tightening down the Wing nut 78, the mounting members or feet 44 and 46 can be drawn and held securely against the opposite sides of the tub 20 and that by releasing the wing nuts, the hanger structure may be quickly and easily detached from the tub.

With particular reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 there is shown one way of connecting the upper ends of the legs 36 and 38 together and to the ends of the cross bar 40. In the interests of providing a light Weight structure, as previously mentioned, the cross bar 40 is preferably an aluminum tube. Fitted into and closing opposite ends of the tubular cross bar 40 are closure membersor plugs 80 which are internally threaded axially to recelve screws 82. The upper ends, as at 84 and 86, of the legs 36 and 38 4are flattened, as shown, and have aligning apertures to receive a tubular spacer 88 which spaces the head of bolt 82 from the head of the closure plug 80 so as to obtain the desired frictional holding force between the parts. Preferably, a pair of washers 90 are provided with one of the washers between the opposed faces of the at end portions 84, 36 of the legs and the other washer between the outer face of portion 86 and a washer 92.

Referring now to FIGS. to 16, the modification 1s similar to the above described structure and therefore like parts have been designated by like reference characters. The modification differs from the structure of FIGS. l to 9 in the provision of legs 94` and 96 which are of tubular form. At their upper ends, the tubular legs 94 and 96 are enlarged, as at 98 and 100 respectively andv are connected together by a link member 102. The enlarged ends 98 and `100 are bifurcated toV provide clevis ends that are connected by bolts 104 and 106 to the link member 102. VAt their lower ends the tubular legs 94 and 96 also have enlarged portions 108 and 110 which are connected by bolts 112 and 114 respectively to the mounting feet 44 and 46. In the modified form as in the first described hanger structure, it will be apparent that the structure is readily mountable on the upper edges of a laundry tub and is securely mounted thereon merely by tightening down the Wing nuts 78. On turning down the wing nuts 78, the slack is taken up in the leg-connecting chains 66 and the leg mounting feet 44, 46 are clamped tightly against the opposite sides of the tub 20.

While I have shown and described my hanger structure in considerable detail, it will be understood that many changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A clothes hanger structure for supporting drip dry clothing over a laundry tub having oppositey upper edges comprising, a first pair of laterally spaced apart legsY having upper and lower ends, a second pair of laterally spaced apart legs having upper and lower ends, a first pair of mounting members respectively supporting the legs of said first pair of legs and pivotally connected to the lower ends thereof, a second pair of mounting members respectively supporting the legs of said second pair of legs and pivotally connected to the lower ends thereof, each of said mounting members being angle shaped and having a horizontal leg to seat on one of opposite upper edges of a tub and a vertical leg to abut the opposite side of the tub corresponding to the said opposite edge,

ends of said cross bar, and clamping means connecting the mounting members of each pair together for adjustably clamping said mounting members to the tub.

2. A clothes hanger structure for supporting drip dry clothing over a laundry tub having opposite upper edges comprising, a-tirst pair of laterally spaced apart legs having upper and lower ends, a second pair of laterally spaced apart legs having upper and lower ends, a first pair of mounting members respectively supporting the legs of said rst pair of legs and pivotally connected to the lower ends thereof, a second pair of mounting members respectively supporting the legs of said second pair of legs and pivotally connected to the lower ends thereof, each of said mounting members being angle shaped khaving a horizontal leg to seat on one or" the opposite upper edges of a tub and a vertical leg to abut the opposite outer side of the tub corresponding to the said opposite edge, means pivotally connecting the upper ends of each a cross bar, hinge means pivotally connecting the upper ends of each said pair of legs together and to opposite said pair of legs together, a clothes supporting cross bar mounted on land supported by said pairs of legs adjacent the upper ends thereof, and clamping means connecting the mounting members of each pair together and operable to clamp the. mounting members to the tub.

3. A clothes hanger structure for supporting drip dry clothing on individual hangers over a laundry tub having a pair of opposite upper edges comprising, a first pair of laterally spaced apart legs having upper and lower ends, a second pair of laterally spaced apart legs having upper and lower ends, means pivotally connecting corresponding ones of said pairs of legs together at the upper ends thereof, a horizontal bar for supporting individual hangers and mounted on said pairs of legs adjacent the upper ends thereof, a first pair of mounting members respectively supporting the legs of said first pair of legs and hinged to the lower ends thereof` about an axis parallel to said bar, a second pair of mounting members respectively Supporting the legs of said second pair of legsl and hinged thereto about an axis parallel to said bar,eacl1 of said mounting members being angle shaped and having a horizontal leg to seat on one of the opposite upper edges of a tub and a vertical leg to abut the opposite outer side of the tub corresponding to the said opposite edge, and clamping means connecting the first and second pairs of mounting members together and operable to clamp said vertical legs to the tub.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,628,936 5/27 Turner 211-178 X 1,788,267 1/31 Amaral 108-49 1,840,620 .l/32 Dennis 45-61 X 2,610,817 9/52 Bedingfield 211-86 X 2,833,502 5/'58 Wildeboor 248-226 2,867,917 l/59 Carlton 248-166 X 3,041,776 7/62 Clayton 248-446 FOREIGN PATENTS 846,982 9/ 60 Great Britain.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner. 

1. A CLOTHES HANGER STRUCTURE FOR SUPPORTING DRIP DRY CLOTHING OVER A LAUNDRY TUB HAVING OPPOSITE UPPER EDGES COMPRISING, A FIRST PAIR OF LATERALLY SPACED APART LEGS HAVING UPPER AND LOWER ENDS, A SECOND PAIR OF LATERALLY SPACED APART LEGS HAVING UPPER AND LOWER ENDS, A FIRST PAIR OF MOUNTING MEMBERS RESPECTIVELY SUPPORTING THE LEGS OF SAID FIRST PAIR OF LEGS AND PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO THE LOWER ENDS THEREOF, A SECOND PAIR OF MOUNTING MEMBERS RESPECTIVELY SUPPORTING THE LEGS OF SAID SECOND PAIR OF LEGS AND PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO THE LOWER ENDS THEREOF, EACH OF SAID MOUNTING MEMBERS BEING ANGLE SHAPED AND HAVING A HORIZONTAL LEG TO SEAT ON ONE OF OPPOSITE UPPER 